Celebrities charging fans to meet them? It’s pure greed

Pricey: Fans have to shell out £1,100 to meet Beyonce

Not so long ago, if you wanted to meet your musical idol backstage after a concert, there were only two ways to go about it — to win a competition, or to sneak past the burly security guards into their dressing room.
Now, however, if you have deep pockets then pretty much anything is possible. The Mail can reveal that a lucrative ‘meet-and-greet’ industry has grown up around pop stars such as One Direction, Justin Bieber and Cheryl Cole.
Meetings last only seconds before fans are sent packing with a photo of themselves with their idol (and a poster and T-shirt if they are lucky), but they pay hundreds of pounds for the privilege.
And it isn’t just teen pop stars getting in on the act — even veteran artists such as the Beach Boys are joining in. Tickets for these ‘meet-and-greets’ start at around £100, but ticket touts are snapping them up, often selling the tickets on for eye-watering sums.
This money-spinning industry hit the headlines last week when Cheryl Cole was criticised for charging £350 to meet-and-greet concert goers. But insiders insist the trend is driven by fans — not stars.
As music PR Stuart Bell, who represents Sir Paul McCartney, says: ‘Some stars’ fan bases are used to engaging with the stars directly through social networking. There is a sense in which they kind of expect to be able to get direct physical access to them as well.’
But he conceded: ‘It’s true that with record sales going down, you have to look at every bit of revenue that you can.’
Meet-and-greets can add up to £600,000 to tour revenues, if you assume two dozen per show on a 50-date tour. It is notable that most pop stars who have been in the business for a few decades don’t do ticketed meet-and-greets.
Neither Sir Paul McCartney nor Rod Stewart offer such packages. Nor does Kylie Minogue. However, they all offer VIP or Platinum packages which allow fans to attend the soundcheck — like a private concert — and get guaranteed front-row seating, gifts and food or a party, too. Rod Stewart sells a ‘Hot Legs’ package along these lines for £1,250.
Fans should be aware that most meet-and-greets tend to be delivered very much on the terms of their idols. In 2010, Sir Elton John sold a meet-and-greet package that came with the warning: ‘Photographs are at the discretion of Sir Elton.’ In other words, if you don’t behave yourself, he jolly well won’t pose for a picture.

Superstar Beyonce has a ‘no hugging’ rule and her security team sternly advises her fans of this before they are ushered into her presence. Some stars object to meet-and-greets on moral grounds, believing they favour richer fans over poorer ones. British band Coldplay believe the system simply enriches ticket touts and agents, and opt to auction their own meet-and-greets directly to fans.
This usually raises around £1,000 per ticket, which the band donates to the homeless charity Crisis.
Cheryl Cole’s PR representative Sundraj Sreenivasan says the star plans to donate the money from the planned meet-and-greets on her current tour to her charity, the Cheryl Cole Foundation.

£350: For that price Cheryl Cole fans will get a photo with the songstress, a gift and an autograph